JP2633185B2 - Tablet packing machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tablet packing machine for supplying tablets to a plastic film in which pockets for storing tablets are formed at regular intervals and packing the tablets. The present invention relates to a tablet packing machine that supplies and packs at a high speed using a drum.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, capsule-shaped tablets are supplied to a web-shaped plastic film in which pockets for storing tablets are formed at regular intervals, an aluminum foil is adhered, and the tablet sheet is cut into a required size. Tablet wrapping machines have been used. Since capsule-shaped tablets have poor transportability compared to round-shaped tablets, a plurality of recesses for accommodating capsules are formed on the outer periphery to supply capsule-shaped tablets to plastic film pockets. Drums are used. The drum is provided above the plastic film, rotates at a synchronous speed with the plastic film, and drops the capsule contained in the recess into the pocket of the plastic film. Further, with the speeding up of the tablet packing machine, it is not possible to supply the capsules with one drum, so that capsules are supplied to every other pocket using two drums.

On the other hand, the method of supplying capsules to the pockets of the drum employs a method of supplying capsules arranged by a parts feeder to a concave portion of the drum by a chute. Here, comparing (1) feeding the capsules stored in the recesses of the drum into the pockets of the plastic film and (2) feeding the capsules to the drum by the chute, (2) the chute is fed to the drum. Supplying capsules is more difficult and often causes trouble.
In the supply of (1), the capsule is stably dropped because the drum is rotating synchronously with the plastic film, whereas in the supply of (2), the capsule stopped in the chute is removed. It is considered that the behavior of the capsule was unstable because the capsule was dropped into the concave portion of the rotating drum.

[0004] Various proposals have conventionally been made to solve the troubles caused by the supply of (2). For example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 55-16107 proposes a method in which, among tablets arranged on a chute, a tablet on one of the tablets to be dropped is pressed by a lever. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-85519 proposes that the position of the chute with respect to the drum be provided in a range advanced by 45 degrees or more and 75 degrees or less in the rotation direction of the drum with reference to a perpendicular passing through the rotation axis of the drum. I have. As a result, the vertical component of the rotation speed of the drum becomes larger than the horizontal component, so that the capsule in the chute easily enters the concave portion of the drum.

[0005]

However, the above prior art has the following problems. That is, when the drum rotates and the concave portion of the drum comes to a position corresponding to the chute and the capsule falls, the capsule has been stopped in the chute, so that there is a variation in time before the movement starts. Therefore, when it takes time to start the movement, there is a problem that the capsule is sandwiched between the drum and the guide plate and the capsule is broken. This has been promoted by the fact that powder or the like generated from the capsule adheres to the chute and delays the fall of the capsule.

In the conventional proposal for solving this problem, the rotation speed of the drum is always synchronized with the conveyance speed of the plastic film. Therefore, even when the capsule falls from the chute to the drum, the drum rotates at a high speed. As a result, the capsule may be broken by being pinched by the guide, and the capsule is not supplied stably to the concave portion. On the other hand, speeding up of a tablet packaging machine is desired in order to realize a cost reduction of a capsule sheet. Here, if the number of drums is increased to three or four, the rotation speed of each individual drum can be reduced, and the capsule can be stably supplied from the chute to the concave portion of the drum. It is difficult to synchronize the rotation of three or more drums, and there is a problem that the size of the packaging machine is increased, which is difficult to realize.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a tablet packing machine capable of stably supplying capsules from a chute to a concave portion of a drum.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, a tablet packaging machine according to the present invention comprises a plastic film having pockets for accommodating tablets formed at regular intervals, and a plastic film having a uniform width in a horizontal direction. Conveying means for conveying the tablets at a speed of, a drum having a plurality of recesses for accommodating tablets on the outer periphery for supplying tablets to the pockets of the plastic film, and a chute for supplying tablets to the recesses of the drums. A tablet packing machine having: (1) a first supply timing for supplying a tablet stored in a concave portion of a drum to a pocket of a plastic film; and (2) a first supply timing for supplying a tablet to a concave portion of the drum. There is a drum rotation speed changing means for rotating the drum at different speeds at two supply timings.

In the above-mentioned tablet packaging machine, the rotation speed of the drum at the second supply timing is lower than the rotation speed of the drum at the first supply timing. Further, in each of the above tablet packing machines, the drum rotation speed changing means is an index drive such as a roller gear, a barrel cam, a parallel cam and the like.

[0010]

The transport means of the tablet packaging machine of the present invention having the above-described structure transports a plastic film having pockets for accommodating tablets formed at a constant interval in a horizontal direction at a constant speed. Further, the drum supplies the tablets stored in the concave portion on the outer periphery to the pockets of the plastic film by moving synchronously with the plastic film. The chute supplies tablets arranged by the parts feeder to the concave portion of the drum. Further, the drum rotation speed changing means (1) converts the tablet stored in the concave portion of the drum into
The drum is rotated at different speeds between a first supply timing for supplying the plastic film to the pocket and (2) a second supply timing for the chute supplying the tablet to the concave portion of the drum.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a tablet packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the tablet packaging machine. A flat web-shaped plastic film 22 is supplied as a roll 21. The plastic film 22 passes through a heater 23 for heating the plastic film to a deformable temperature, and a molding machine 24 for molding a row of quintuple pockets 38 for accommodating the capsules 17 at a time. A concave portion corresponding to 38 is intermittently conveyed by an intermittent drive roller 25 formed on the outer periphery. The reason for the intermittent conveyance is that the operation of the molding machine 24 is intermittent.

The plastic film 22 in which the pocket 38 is formed is supplied through a dancer roller 26 and a feed roller 27 for adjusting the operation of the plastic film 22 between intermittent feed and continuous feed for feeding capsules. It passes below a first drum 13A, a second drum 13B, and a chute 29 for supplying round tablets. The capsules 17 are alternately supplied to the pockets 38 of the plastic film 22 by the first drum 13A and the second drum 18B. When the capsule is being supplied, the chute 29 is closed. On the other hand, the capsules are supplied to the drums 13A and 13B by the parts feeders 28A and 28B for capsules through the chutes 18A and 18B.

Next, the capsule 17 is bonded to the plastic film 22 supplied to the pocket 38 by sandwiching the aluminum foil 31 on the plastic film 22 and sandwiching the capsule 17 between the pasting rollers 32 and 33. In the supply process of the capsule 17, the plastic film 22 is transported at a constant speed by the continuous transport roller. The plastic film 22 that has passed through the continuous transport roller 34 is sent to a punching machine 37 that cuts the plastic film 22 and the aluminum foil 31 into two rows of five sheets via a dancer roller 35 and a feed roller 36. In the process of the punching machine 37, the plastic film 22 and the like remaining after the punching are intermittently fed by a driving roller (not shown) for driving. The dancer roller 35 is for adjusting the intermittent feed and the continuous feed in the capsule supply step.

Next, a configuration of a peripheral portion of the drum 13 which is a main portion of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the two drums 13A and 13B have the same configuration, they will be described using common reference numerals. On the outer periphery of the drum 13, the capsule 1
9 recesses 14a, 14b, 14 for accommodating 7
c, 14d, 14e, 14f, 14g, 14h, 14i
Are formed in equal parts. The concave portions 14 are formed in four rows in the axial direction of the outer periphery. The center axis of the drum 13 is connected to an output shaft of a roller gear 45 which is a drum rotation speed changing means for rotating the drum 13 at different speeds. The rotation shaft of a servomotor 46 is connected to the input shaft of the roller gear 45. A guide 16 for preventing the capsule 17 stored in the pocket 14 from dropping is attached to the left side of the drum 13 along the outer periphery. The lower end 16 a of the guide 16 is in contact with the plastic film 22.

An angle 30 from a perpendicular passing through the center of the drum 13
A chute 18 is vertically attached to a position of about 40 degrees through a moving guide 43. The upper end of the chute 18
The capsule 17 is supplied to a chute 18 by a parts feeder (not shown). Inside the chute 18, the capsule 17 is continuous in the vertical direction. A stopper 41 for preventing the capsule 17 from dropping is provided near the lower end of the chute 18. The stopper 41 is normally urged by a holding spring 43 in a direction for holding the capsule 17. Further, the urging of the stopper 41 to the capsule 17 is released by a cam (not shown) in synchronization with the rotation of the drum 13.

Next, the operation of the tablet packaging machine having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the main part of the present invention is (1) a first supply operation for supplying the capsules 17 contained in the recesses 14 of the drum 13 to the pockets 38 of the plastic film 22, and (2) the chute 18
The second supply operation of supplying the capsule 17 to the third concave portion 14 will be described. FIG. 1 shows the rotation speed of the outer periphery of the drum 13. The vertical axis indicates the amount of movement of the outer periphery of the drum 13, and the horizontal axis indicates the angle of the input shaft of the roller gear 45. Straight line 11
Indicates the transport amount of the plastic film 22.
The inclination of the straight line 11 indicates the speed of the plastic film 22, and the plastic film 22 is being conveyed at a constant speed. A curve 12 indicates the amount of displacement of the outer periphery of the drum 13. The inclination of the tangent at each point of the curve 12 indicates the speed of the outer periphery of the drum 13.

The pitch of the pockets 38 in the plastic film 22 is 26 mm, and the tablet packing machine of this embodiment supplies the capsules 17 alternately to the pockets 38 by the two drums 13A and 13B. The movement of the plastic film 22 by S = 52 mm is one cycle, and the drum 13 supplies the capsule 17 to the pocket 38 every cycle. In FIG. 1, the moving amount of the plastic film 22 is S = 52 mm.
At this time, the speed of the servomotor 46 is adjusted so that the input angle of the roller gear 45 becomes 360 degrees. Here, the diameter M of the drum 13 is M = 140 mm in the tablet packaging machine of the present embodiment, and the concave portion 14 is formed at nine places by dividing the outer periphery of the drum 13 into nine parts. When the input shaft rotates 360 degrees, the drum 1
The displacement amount H on the outer periphery of No. 3 is H = M * π / 9 = about 48.87.
mm. Therefore, the plastic film 22 has S =
When transported by 52 mm, the outer circumference of the drum 13 is H =
It moves by 48.87 mm.

Next, the relationship between the amount of displacement of the drum 13 and (1) the first supply timing at which the capsule 17 stored in the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 is supplied to the pocket 38 of the plastic film 22 will be described. FIG. 4 shows the displacement position of the drum 13, the transport position of the pocket 38 of the plastic film 22, and the behavior of the capsule 17 at the first timing. FIG. 4A shows a state where the input angle of the roller gear 45 in FIG. 1 is B = about 190 degrees. (B) shows that the input angle of the roller gear 45 is A
= 270 degrees.

FIG. 4A shows the timing at which the tip of the capsule 17 stored in the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 falls into the pocket 38 of the plastic film 22. In the range where the input angle of the roller gear 45 in FIG. 1 is around B, the slope of the tangent of the curve 12 is larger than the slope of the straight line 11. That is, the speed of the outer circumference of the drum 13 is faster than the transport speed of the plastic film 22. Therefore, the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 is displaced so as to chase the pocket 38 of the plastic film 22, and the drum 1
When the third concave portion 14 catches up with the pocket 38 to the state shown in FIG. 4A, the tip of the capsule 17 stored in the concave portion 14 falls into the pocket 38. further,
When the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 follows the pocket 38 and the input angle of the roller gear 45 becomes A = about 270 degrees,
As shown in FIG. 4B, the positions of the recess 14 and the pocket 38 coincide. At this time, the slope of the tangent of the curve 12 becomes equal to the slope of the transport speed of the plastic film 22, as shown in FIG. That is, the moving speed of the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 and the conveying speed of the plastic film 22 become equal. As a result, the capsule 17 is
4 falls into the pocket 38. Here, capsule 17
When the capsule 1 falls, the fall guide 15 enters the recess 14 to forcibly drop the capsule 17.
7 is completely dropped.

Next, the relationship between the amount of displacement of the drum 13 and (2) the second supply timing at which the chute 18 supplies the capsule 17 to the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 will be described. FIG.
9 shows the displacement position of the drum 13, the position of the chute 18, and the behavior of the capsule 17 at the second timing. FIG. 2A shows the state of the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 when the input angle of the roller gear 45 is about 280 degrees in FIG. 1, that is, when it is at the position indicated by a in FIG.
(B) shows the case where the input angle of the roller gear 45 is about 20 degrees, that is, when the drum 13 is at the position shown in FIG.
The state of is shown. (C) shows the state of the drum 13 when the input angle of the roller gear 45 is about 95 degrees, that is, at the position shown by c in the figure.

FIG. 2A shows that the tip of the capsule 17 near the outlet of the chute 18 is
This is the timing at the entrance end. Next, FIG.
Indicates the timing at which the tip of the capsule 17 has fallen into the recess 14. 2A to 2B of FIG.
, That is, in the section indicated by L1 in FIG. 1, the slope of the tangent of the curve 12 gradually decreases,
At the timing of b, the inclination is 0. Considering this in terms of speed, the speed of the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 with respect to the chute 18 gradually decreases from the time when the tip of the capsule 17 is at the entrance end of the concave portion 14 shown in FIG. At the timing when the tip of the capsule 17 falls into the concave portion 14 shown in FIG. 2B, the speed of the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 with respect to the chute 18 is zero.

Next, when changing from FIG. 2B to FIG. 2C, that is, in the section indicated by L2 in FIG. 1, the slope of the curve 12 gradually increases. Considering this in terms of speed, the speed of the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 with respect to the chute 18 gradually increases after the tip of the capsule 17 shown in FIG. Then, at the timing when the capsule 17 falls into the concave portion 14 shown in FIG. 2C, the speed of the outer periphery of the drum 13 is equal to the transport speed of the plastic film 22.
As described above, (2) the chute 18 is
The speed of the outer circumference of the drum 13 at the time of the second supply timing for supplying the capsule 17 to the
Since the speed of the outer periphery of the drum 13 at the time of the first timing for supplying the capsule 17 stored in the cartridge 4 to the pocket 38 of the plastic film 22 is slower, the capsule 17 stopped by the chute 18 When falling into the concave portion 14, the moving speed of the outer periphery of the drum 13 is low, and the capsule 17 can fall with a margin, so that the capsule 17 can be surely dropped into the concave portion 14.

Next, the overall operation of the tablet packaging machine of this embodiment will be described. The flat web-shaped plastic film 22 is intermittently conveyed by an intermittent drive roller 25, heated to a temperature at which plastic deformation is possible by a heater 23, and formed into four rows and five consecutive recesses 14 by a molding machine 24 at a stop timing. It is formed. Since the molding machine 24 intermittently performs molding, the concave portions 14 are molded as four rows in a row. Plastic film 22 in which recess 14 is formed
The intermittent drive and the continuous conveyance are adjusted by the dancer roller 26.

Next, when the capsules 17 are supplied as tablets, the pockets 3 are formed by two sets of drums 1A and 13B.
8 are supplied with capsules 17 alternately. At this time, the chute 29 for supplying the round tablet is closed. The reason why the capsule 17 is supplied by the two drums 13A and 13B is that the capsule 17 takes a long time to fall on the chute 18 or the like, and the capsule 17 is supplied by the two drums 13A and 13B to shorten the overall cycle time. This is to increase production efficiency. Plastic film 2 by drum 13
The operation of supplying the capsule 17 to the second pocket 38 has been described above, and thus the description is omitted. When supplying a round tablet, the supply of the capsule 17 to the drum 13 is stopped by the stopper 41, and the parts feeder 30 supplies the tablet via the chute 29.

The aluminum foil 31 is attached to the plastic film 22 in which the capsules 17 are stored in all the pockets 38 by a pair of attaching rollers 32 and 33. Plastic film 22 with aluminum foil 31 attached
The intermittent drive and the continuous conveyance are adjusted by the dancer roller 35. Next, the plastic film 22
It is intermittently conveyed by a driving roller (not shown). Then, at the stop timing, the sheet is punched out into two rows of five tablet sheets by the punching machine 37. The punched tablet sheets are stacked and transported by a collecting device (not shown). In addition, the plastic film 2
2 is collected by a trash box (not shown).

As described in detail above, according to the tablet packaging machine of the present invention, (2) the outer peripheral speed of the drum 13 at the second supply timing at which the chute 18 supplies the capsule 17 to the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 (1) Since the roller 17 has the roller gear 45 for making the capsule 17 housed in the concave portion 14 of the drum 13 slower than the outer peripheral speed of the drum 13 at the first supply timing of supplying the capsule 17 to the pocket 38 of the plastic film 22, It is possible to stably drop the capsule 17 from the chute 18 to the concave portion 14 of the drum 13, and it is possible to prevent the capsule 17 from being broken by being caught by the guide.

In this embodiment, the case where one kind of capsule is supplied has been described. However, when different kinds of capsules are supplied by a drum, the pitch of the pockets 38 in the plastic film 22 is different. Since the drum was used, it took a lot of time to set up the drum for replacement. In the tablet packing machine of this embodiment, since the roller gears 45A and 45B are driven by different servo motors 46A and 46B, even if the pocket pitch is changed, each servo motor
If synchronization with the plastic film 22 is performed in 6A and 46B, capsules can be supplied, and the setup time can be significantly reduced.

Although the motor control device according to the present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in this embodiment, the roller gear 45 is used as the drum rotation speed changing means. However, the same applies when another index drive such as a barrel cam or a parallel cam is used. In this embodiment, the two drums 13A, 13A
The case where B is used has been described, but the same applies to a case where one drum is used or a case where three or more drums are used.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the tablet packaging machine of the present invention, (2) the outer peripheral speed of the drum at the second supply timing at which the chute supplies the tablets to the concave portion 14 of the drum; (1) Since there is a drum rotation speed changing means for changing the outer peripheral speed of the drum at the first supply timing for supplying the tablets stored in the concave portion of the drum to the pocket of the plastic film, It is possible to stably drop the tablet into the concave portion of the drum, and it is possible to prevent troubles such as the tablet being broken by being caught by the guide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a data diagram showing a rotational displacement of a drum used in a tablet packing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship among a concave portion of a drum, a chute, and a capsule.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration around a drum.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a positional relationship between a pocket of a plastic film, a concave portion of a drum, and a capsule.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the tablet packaging machine of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Drum 14 Concave part 17 Capsule 18 Chute 22 Plastic film 34 Continuous transport roller 38 Pocket 45 Roller gear

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plastic film in which pockets for accommodating tablets are formed at regular intervals, and conveying means for conveying the plastic film at a constant speed in the horizontal direction.
In order to supply a tablet to the plastic film pocket, in a tablet packing machine having a drum having a plurality of recesses for accommodating tablets on an outer periphery thereof and a chute for supplying a tablet to the recess of the drum, (1) A first supply timing for supplying the tablets stored in the concave portion of the drum to the pocket of the plastic film; and (2) a second supply timing for supplying the tablets to the concave portion of the drum by the chute. A drum rotation speed changing means for rotating the drum at different speeds. 2. The tablet packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotation speed of the drum at the second supply timing is:
A tablet packing machine, wherein the rotation speed is lower than the rotation speed of the drum at the time of the first supply timing. 3. The tablet packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein said drum rotation speed changing means is an index drive such as a roller gear, a barrel cam, a parallel cam, or the like.